Category Archives: Building Cotton Row

Paddle #2

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Just got in from a 5 minute paddle and learned a lot more.

Raising the oars 2″ made a dramatic difference. No bloody knees! Plenty of clearance and did not bang my knees once. So that was a huge improvement and one issue resolved.  I had searched and searched the web but could never find any recomendation on this height so I guessed and guessed wrong. But now I have a good starting point from now on.

As a side note I am thinking I made this boat to low. It should have been at least an inch taller and maybe even two. I don’t want to get caught out in rough water in this thing. Maybe with some experience it will OK but that leads to the other issue, stability…..

There is more to stability than just keeping a boat upright. I have no problems there, I can sit in the boat with or without oars no problem. It’s tender but I guess from paddling lower stability kayaks is why I don’t find it a big problem. Phil however struggled with the stability which sort of surprised me.

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But today, since I wasn’t focused on keeping my knees out of the way I started to confront the next issue. I keep dipping one oar in the water which could be a really bad thing at higher speed. Right now it is just a major annoyance and frustrates the heck out of me!!!! I was assuming it was just me letting one side droop and hit the water. But being able to focus on this, I realize that was not the case.

I am wobbling as I paddle, leaning the boat to one side or the other and with the lenght of the oars it doesn’t take much for an oar to dip into the water. So it is a stability issue, not turning over but rocking from side to side. That will improve with experience I am sure but since I can’t paddle worth a darn now I am going to try to lower the seating position.

I tried sitting on top of the seat frame (very uncomfortable!!) with the sliding seat all the way back but that made a big difference. It would not be very hard to add a board across the frame to use as a fixed seat. That will lower me an inch and half and that will make a marked difference. And it’s easier than making a new frame. So I will probably start with that.

Stay tuned!

To the water we go!

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I finished the boat and took it to the water. I have a small leak at the transom, no idea where but that’s fairly easy to fix (I hope). I got on the water and found the stability about what I expected. It’s definitely tender, but not as bad as I was afraid it would be. A newbie or someone who hasn’t paddled lower stability boats would not be comfortable in it.

Phil came along for the laughs I provided. He was kind enough to snap photos too. I had tried the boat with no oars and now I was headed to the boat for the first try.

First stroke trying to get away from the shore. Note to self: Turn the boat toward open water!! I really struggled to get going.

This photo is just to show I did make it on the water and actually row it a little. But it was a study in frustration! Rowing is not easy. There is a rhythm and timing between oars, arms and legs and I didn’t have it together. But I am sure that comes with time.

Another big issue was I found the outrigger were not high enough. When I lifted the oars out of the water, I kept hitting my knees. If I didn’t hit my knees I drug the oar in the water and that is a BAD thing! Part of that was my timing, I kept lifting my knees to quickly, but a large part was the oars were just too low and I have the scars on top of my leg to prove it!

So, I have rigged up some temporary blocks to raise the oars locks and clamped them in place with some clamps. I want to take it to the water to see how much difference this makes and assuming no bloody knee caps I will figure the best way to raise them up.

 

The fix is in!

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I kept pondering on this and really want to try to fix the rower frame. I knew that just gluing it together would not work. The thoughts of having to chisel out the dados to  replace the broken cross piece was not appealing, at all.

Then I had the thought, I could add a cross piece making the cross brace into a T shape. That would make the whole frame much stronger I couldn’t just glue it on top because thew wood was oiled and glue wouldn’t stick. Secondly it would be in the way for the sliding seat  hardware so I need to mill a dado and cut down the broken piece too.

Thinking on how I was going to this I leaned toward making a router jig, but I kept thinking how much faster a dado stack on the table saw would be. Problem was, I was certain it wouldn’t fit on the table.

I was right, it wouldn’t fit but I discovered if I removed the left side extension on the table it would. It was going hit the fence rail at the back but there was just enough space to finish the cut. So I removed the extension. Clamped some scrap the miter gauge and clamped the broken frame together so it couldn’t move.

I am not quite finished with the cut in this photo. I cut it  1-1/2″ wide and centered on the cross brace. By doing this I cut off the top of the broken brace that was oiled. Now I have clean wood across the top to glue too.

I decided I had better add a second piece further back to help prevent any racking. When I slid it over to make the cut it really wanted to tip over without the extension table in place. I didn’t want to replace extension just yet so I grabbed one of the big cast iron clamps and placed it on the end as a counterweight to help balance it. Then I clamped it to the miter gauge and that worked.

Here is the finished unit. It’s now much stronger. I have installed heel cups, added a temporary foot strap (I think I want some wider webbing) and installed the rails and seat.

Here she is, all finished as far as I can tell. All I need to do is check the transom to make sure it is water tight. I don’t expect a problem but I would rather find it now.  If there are no surprises then she is ready for the water.

We are in the middle of a heat wave so I am not sure when I will be on the water. I have been working on the rowing machine at the gym and I know that rowing can be a strenuous workout, so I may have to go by myself early one morning.

Uh oh! Did I really do that?

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3 steps forward and one step back!  No launching this weekend but such is boat building.

And let me apologize for the lousy photos, they are not up to my standards but I didn’t feel like redoing them tonight.

Lets start with the transom. As you can see it is in place and once the caulking sets up it ready for a few more coats of varnish. I had someone tell me I couldn’t do a wine glass transom on a skin boat guess what?  I did. 😉

Finished the oars except for the handles. I still have to refine the shape of those and I am going to oil them rather than varnish them. I have never had good luck doing that but I am going try it again. I had the ‘leathers’ or actually masons twine wrapped and varnished in place. If you think sewing hurts your hand try this! First time in two years my hands are really sore.

Hopefully I have applied the last coat of Varnish to everything. While I was at it I repaired a kayak paddle and varnished it. It has nothing to do with this boat though.

I assembled the outriggers onto the frame and placed them in boat to double-check clearances before I start to install the varnished trim. That is when I saw my serious blunder!

See that big crack in the cross brace? That is not really the problem, notice the grain runs up and down? That is the problem. There is no strength in the joint. It broke from installing the screws that hold the outriggers. This is the most stressed joint on the boat. All of the force from the oars is on this joint., it has to be strong and this is terribly weak. That was a big blunder that I should have noticed.

I have been debating and I am seriously considering just scrapping this one. Keeping the outriggers but building a new frame from plywood. The oak frame should be more than strong enough with the cross brace grain running the right direction. but the time it will take to fix I could probably just build a new one. Plus I think the plywood would be lighter and just as strong, probably a little stronger.

Then again sitting here looking at this picture I have an idea on how I fix this and make it  stronger too. Next post we will see what I decide. As I write this the wheels are turning….

Rounded the corner headed for home!

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Getting really close to finishing this one up and I still don’t have a name. I think I will just call it My Boat since I don’t have commercial plans for it.

Lets start with the oars, after a lot of research I decided it didn’t matter what I built them out of as long as they didn’t break and I kept them varnished. So I laminated basswood since it was easy to get and cheap. I am sure I will build another set  in the near future and once I am happy with my design I can use better wood if I find the need.

This is the second oar blank being shaped on the bench. As you can see by the pile of shavings there has been a lot of wood removed from the first one. I use hand tools and sandpaper. I know most of you reading probably thing of hand tools as old school but there is nothing better for this job! They are a joy to work with once you learn the tricks.

This is a cheap Stanley Handyman plane I picked up somewhere. I have reshaped the blade so that is it rounded and use it as a scrub plane. It leaves a rough surface but it takes a lot of material off fast. This one works great at getting it removing lots of wood and getting it down close, then I finish with the other plans that take small amounts off at a time. Yes it is slower but you have much more control and don’t suddenly find you are way past your mark. You sort of sneak up on the line.

Next it was time to fit the trim or coaming to the boat. This hides the fabric edge and will help keep water from coming in the cockpit.

All the bits and pieces dry fitted in place ready to removed and sanded.

Now we skip past all the hours of sanding and sanding and sanding some more…..  I start to apply the first coat of varnish and then see the places I should have sanding a little bit more.

Hope to start assembling all the bits and pieces some time this week and maybe take it to the water late in the week. MAYBE!

Cremesicle to the rescue!

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Painting is done, except for the inevitable touch-ups that always seem to be necessary.  For those of you that have been guessing my inspiration was the CreamSicles.

Desperate for something I was looking at all the paint chips in the rack and thought about a tangerine color when it came to me. A Creamsicle! 

I looked at lot of color combinations but I think I nailed this one. I had to get a friend of mine to help with finding the right creamy white but it all turned out just like I had in mind.

Keep in mind your monitor and my dark shop don’t lend themselves to a good color matching photos but it exactly what I had  in mind. A slightly creamy orange and with a creamy white with just a hint of an orange tint. Just looks like a Creamsicle to me!  BTW, I am seriously considering renaming it Popsicle. I am not  happy with the name Cotton Row.

 

Skin and Oar

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The boat is skinned and ready for paint. Love the new method I used for skinning. I learned a few things things not to do on the next one. This is the tightest polyester skin I have ever had. It really is drum tight It’s actually too tight near the rear of the boat.

“I think” I know what color(s) I am going to use. I had an inspiration today but that will have to remain a secret for a while yet. I am still trying to decide if that is what I want. Lets just say it’s not as traditional as I was first thinking. 🙂

Next I worked on the finishing the oars. On my glued up blank, the handle  had ended up bad off center somehow and I had decided to just use this as test piece to learn from. As I started to mark the final shape on the glue up I realized that the handle was right, I had just left more stock on side than the other.

So I finished the oar still thinking I would just use it as a pattern but it came out so well that I decided to just keep it. I am very happy with it and it looks like it is a keeper.

Next is one more oar, paint on the hull and a lot of varnishing on the sliding seat rig. Oh and of course trim around the cockpit. That will take a little time to install and varnish but it’s getting close.

Oars and skin

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I have started on my oars. After a false start and a lot of looking around I finally settled on laminating some basswood boards into a blank.  I looked at a lot of plans on the web and I am more or less following Jim Michalak’s plans. His plans are for 8 foot and I am making 9′. So they will vary a little bit.

With that glued up I moved over to the boat and started skinning.

On this boat I just staple the skin on the inside of the coaming.

I am trying a new stitch down the bow. I have seen this done before but never knew how it was done and finally just decided to try it. It’s slower but I love the way it looks and I also found that I can pull the skin tight and not get those pesky pull holes either.

The bow is sewn and ready for a little shrinking to pull out some wrinkles. It’s going to be a couple of days before I can get back on it but it will not take long to be ready for paint or whatever finish I decide on.

Any color suggestions? I am stumped.

Rounding the corner

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As the title implies, it feels like I have rounded the corner when I get to this point.

First order of business was to go back and relash a couple of stringers. This photo is probably a bit confusing but you are looking at the end of the sliding seat unit resting on the frame. The unit is resting on the lashing. Taking it in and out is would eventually wear out the lashings so I needed to fix it…. or rather fix all 6 of them.

The fix was simple enough. Just cut a notch in the frame for the lashing to rest in and that would keep it out-of-the-way.  Then lash the stringer with an H lashing.

With that done the frame is finished and it’s time to apply the oil. This is not one of my favorite jobs but I do love watching the wood change as the oil is applied! I love the look of oiled WRC.

I have finished the outriggers, I am just waiting on the hardware to arrives so I can mount them to the frame. I oiled the outriggers and seat frame.

Once I get everything fitted and I will apply the varnish. I was going to varnish now, but I had second thoughts and decided to wait.

Once the oil has had a couple of days to dry it will be ready to start skinning. Next I need to  building a set of oars. For the first time I feel like I can see the end of this project. There is still a lot left to do but it feels like it is getting close.

And this one is JUST RIGHT

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Outriggers are done, well as far as I can go right now. They are still held in place with some F-clamps so I need to order hardware.  I think I will start sanding and varnishing everything next. It might get skinned up a little but I can touch it up before I do the final assembly.

It is supposed to be stormy but since the storms are not here, I decided to take some  FROG photos (Frame On Grass).  Looking at it the outriggers look sort of narrow but they are correct for a set of 8 foot long oars. I wanted to start with these and see what I have built. If I don’t have any problems and decide later I want to try some 9′ oars, it’s just a matter of building a new set of outriggers and bolting them on to the frame.